Terrorism and Elections (Part II)

The last day or two have been interested. We have a new tape out from Osama bin Laden threatening the United States (as usual), and scaremongering talk in the news media about a possible "constitutional crisis" if terrorists successfully disrupt the American presidential elections on Tuesday.

You see, in the entire history of the United States, the elections have never been disrupted, and there is no constitutional protocol about what to do about it. The election date is fixed by the constitution, and nobody has the authority to change it, so if a terrorist attack disrupts the election, there could be a drawn-out challenge in court to determine the winner.

Talk like this is really scaremongering, and does not take into account the true nature of this country. Terrorists really do not understand this country either - some of them think that it is like Spain: a place where they can disrupt the political process by attacking it just before an election. What they don't understand is that Americans have a long history of putting aside their disputes and fighting against a common enemy when attacked.

If terrorists attack America on election day, it will not matter for them who won the election: the Republicans and Democrats, Bush and Kerry, will stand united against whoever attacked America, and will come together to reach a compromise on how to determine the winner of the election.

The United States has over 200 years of history of being a democracy. Democracy is so deeply ingrained in the mentality of the average American that he/she cannot imagine living in a society where it does not exist. Even if a terrorist attack prevented the elections from proceeding successfully, the American politicians are reasonable enough that I am quite certain they would work together and reach a compromise.

Scaremongering about the possibility of a constitutional crisis in America by the news media serves only to make terrorists think that this may be an achievable goal for them. This is a dangerous and incorrect message. Terrorists should realize that Americans are strong-willed and will not allow their country to be cowed, scared off, or disrupted.